


This Little Centaurian Went to Market

by ImmoralOwl



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Food, I don't know what to tag for this crap, Market Place, Mentions of Slavery, Stealing, Tiny Past Angst, first outing, good feels, sweets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 18:48:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12114948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmoralOwl/pseuds/ImmoralOwl
Summary: The first time Stakar takes Yondu off ship since freeing him is to a market planet to pick things up for him. He tries to pull Yondu out of his shell a little and introduce him to shopping when you're not one of the wares being sold.





	This Little Centaurian Went to Market

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know shit about Stakar so I don't know if he's in character or not but movie version it seems to fit.  
> One of my headcannons is that Yondu was super shy and well behaved at first and then once he got a little more used to things he went wild with all the stuff he was never allowed, think cosmic frat boy.  
> This is still when he's starting to come out of his shell just a tiny bit.

Yondu had never been to a market before, well not like this anyway.  
Sure he had been to markets before but only to be sold and usually his master's would pick the fastest least crowded way to the section set aside for their kinds of business and if not he certainly hadn't been allowed to look around and most certainly not to stop at any vendor stalls.  
He hadn't been free for very long and with his new master, no not master the man had said not to call him that, Captain Stakar, had said he could come with him planetside so he could get Yondu a few things he needed and show him around.  
On the way down Yondu had got to sit in the cock-pit, not in the cargo hold but in the actual fucking cock-pit, like in a seat and everything!  
Stakar had kept looking at him when he thought Yondu was too busy looking at all the buttons, levers, and playing with his seat belt to notice and smiling, Yondu wasn't really sure why but he figured he was just trying to contain a laugh at his expense or something with how new everything was to him and old news to Stakar himself it all must be, he must look like a child getting excited at every little thing.  
When they had landed Stakar had told Yondu to stick close to him, mentally Yondu said "no shit", he had never ever been allowed to wander before so he wasn't sure why he needed to have it pointed out, it was just a given, physically he had nodded and said "yes Sir" before following him down the ramp.

It was warm on the planet and the sky was lilac purple with three small dull orange suns, there was a warm gentle breeze and it carried the smells of the food stalls that were on the other side of the market and Yondu hoped Captain Stakar would take him there when they were finished as something smelled delicious and he really wanted to find out what it was.  
Stakar led Yondu to a building with lots of clothes in it where a man with lots of ribbon things around his neck and needles stuck along the hem of his vest cheerfully greeted the Captain.  
The two had talked for awhile and then the other man, Captain had called him "best tailor in the quadrant" while they had been talking, told him to follow him toward the back.  
Yondu had hesitated, the needles stuck in the tailor's clothes had made him nervous and reminded him of the Kree scientists and doctors.  
It was a mistake to hesitate he knew that, he had been given an order from someone else and disobeyed, now he was going to be in trouble and punished he just knew it.  
Instead Stakar gave an almost sad smile at Yondu, he had seen him flinch the second his eyes had landed on the mending pins, so he simply told Yondu it was alright and he was just going to be fitted for better clothing so he could go to other planets with different climates and not to worry, no one was going to hurt him.  
Yondu nodded and responded with the usual "yes Sir" and Stakar was beginning to wonder if Yondu could even say the word no as Yondu had yet to say it for anything he requested him to do since taking him aboard his ship.

The tailor took all Yondu's measurements and Stakar watched closely the way Yondu flinched when the tailor had to take inseam measurements, the way Yondu held his breath when fingers and tape ghosted over scars and the way Yondu closed his eyes and forcibly kept his hands from making fists at his side when the tape measure was held down the middle of his back.  
He had been nervous Yondu might freak out and realized too late he should have warned him that he'd be touched and where but he hadn't wanted to startle him or make him worry so really the fact Yondu was doing so well with it all, especially being touched over the scar of his crest -even if it was hidden under his current shirt, was amazing and if Yondu could make it through having his neck measured he'd have to make sure he rewarded him  
He didn't have to wait long to find out.  
The wounds from Yondu's slave collar were still a little sore so when the tailor reached for his neck Yondu had, on primal instinct, growled and finally balled his fists up.  
Stakar had his mouth open to shout, his muscles ready to leap forward, but it would be too late and he knew it, he could only begin the short stride over in the hopes of Yondu not killing the poor man with the first skilled blow of a battle slave.  
Bitter tasting stomach bile made its way into Yondu's mouth as he felt the soft touch against where a hard unforgiving collar had been for so many years, the anger of having something placed there again had just as quick as it started turned to anxiety and fear.  
His fists were still balled tight enough to make his knuckles white and he couldn't help the tiny whine that escaped his throat.  
That pained whine froze Stakar solid.  
What must Yondu be thinking?   
He hoped more than anything it wasn't that he was about to get a new collar, a fancy custom one or something.  
The measurement only took a few seconds and the tailor had been as gentle as possible, not holding the measuring ribbon too tight and avoiding touching the worst of the bruising and scrapes as he slid it around with ghosting fingers and happily said "all done" before scurrying off to get started on the rest of the job.  
The quiet sigh from Yondu was a relief to Stakar's ears.   
He would definitely have to find something to reward Yondu with.

Once back outside Stakar led Yondu around past an array of vendors, secretly enjoying the way Yondu's pupils widened and his eyes seemed to roam over every new thing he saw.  
This planet had strict rules against slavery of any kind, many of its inhabitants were refugees of ‘harvest’ planets or slaves who had gained freedom through running away or rescue so Stakar figured it was a safe starter to take Yondu here with its lack of slavery section to the market and no slave gear being sold.  
Yondu never went more than two feet at most from Stakar and Stakar noticed Yondu checked to make sure he was close at regular intervals.  
A small part of Stakar wondered if Yondu was waiting for his chance to run.  
A large part of Yondu didn’t want to take any chances that might end him back up in the hands of slavers again.

They stopped at a vendor that spoke in what Yondu assumed was a code because why would someone like Captain Stakar want to buy a piece of “red rock candy”?  
Candy rocks sounded like they would be hell to try and eat, you’d probably chip your teeth on them!  
The vendor handed over a dusty black cloth with something small wrapped inside and Stakar handed him a good amount of units in return then turned to Yondu and very quietly, as if he didn’t want anyone but Yondu to hear, whispered “Udonta do you know how to use yaka?”.  
Yondu’s heart leap up and felt as if it would bang into the back of his throat, maybe even fall right out of his mouth if he opened it right away.

He knew how to use yaka, one of his earliest masters, back when he still had his crest and not an implant, had given him an arrow which used yaka he could control but he was only ever allowed to use it for his master never against.  
When he wasn’t on the battlefield the arrow was kept locked away somewhere Yondu couldn’t get it to respond to his commands and when he was on the battlefield he was always carefully watched to ensure he didn’t try anything and he knew the consequences of it from seeing others who had made attempts.  
His master during his puberty years had him experimented on and he’d lost his crest and ability to use any yaka weapons for a long time, they had put the implant he had now in but he wasn’t given another arrow until his last master, the one Stakar had rescued him from.  
That arrow had been unfortunately broken and left on the battlefield where his fortunately broken collar also laid. 

To think he could have another he could use made Yondu’s face light up to Stakar’s question.  
Stakar smiled back and asked if he could take that as a yes, he expectantly got a “yes Sir” in return but it almost sounded jovial and when he unwrapped the small chunk of red just enough for Yondu to know what is was and explained there was someone on the ship who could help him fashion it into another arrow the smile that erupted on Yondu’s face was priceless and for a split second they could both almost forget Yondu’s past.  
Stakar wrapped the yaka back up and then stuck it in one of Yondu’s pockets.

They went to several more stalls, one had educational holopads for children and although Yondu detested the idea of being thought of as a child he had to concede that there were probably a lot of things a battle slave didn’t get taught that he would need to know seeing as Stakar had told him one day he wanted him to be a captain like him.  
While the vendor explained the pre-installed programs and the durability of a children’s model (as he eyed up the visible evidence on Yondu of being a former battle slave) something caught Yondu’s eye at the next stall over.  
On the back of one of the tables sat a box which mimicked darkness and inside was a creature made of gems that glowed the way Yondu’s implant did when he was in battle.  
It was round, almost a fat pink circle with little pink trapezoid gems for ears on top and round green gemstone eyes.  
It was a cute little bugger.  
Yondu weighed his options, he really wanted it but he didn’t want to ask Captain Stakar to buy it for him, the man had already bought him several things and he didn’t want to seem ungrateful by asking for more.  
Stakar noticed of course, the man was like a bird of prey, seeing everything.

Time to see if Yondu had what it took to be a good Ravager.  
As he led Yondu over he whispered to him that if he could take it without being noticed he could have it, it would be all his to keep.  
Yondu knew about stealing already, when he was a child his master's would use him when violence wasn’t an option and stealth was the best chance to manipulate the enemy for what they wanted or steal what they desired.  
It had been relatively easy, no one usually suspected a poor injured child who had managed to run away from slavers and needed a place to stay or be taken somewhere he thought his parents would be or expected to come back to artifacts or files missing and no child in sight after leaving him alone for mere minutes.  
Yondu waited until the vendor was distracted by a customer that looked to be more money than brains - meaning he’d be focused on the sale and trying to get as much out of them as possible.  
Yondu pretended to be looking at something in front of the box that costs 50 units.  
It was clearly marked, but Yondu interrupted to ask how much it was while holding it up.  
The vendor made a face of annoyance and answered before returning his attention to the affluent customer.  
Yondu did it twice more with other things around the box, until the fed up vendor waved him off and stopped even looking over at him, trying his best to reel the affluent customer into buying a carved figure by a rare primal tribe from off-world making it a unique gift to show off his prestige - Yondu rolled his eyes, the sleazy vendor probably had a whole stack under the table he made himself.  
He took the opportunity to palm the shiny bauble he was after while simultaneously replacing it with another he had picked up then sighed as if everything he looked at was too expensive.  
Nonchalantly he strolled back to where his Captain waited and opened his hand to show him his prize.  
Stakar gave a bark of a laugh and congratulated Yondu on a job well done.

The next stop was at the section for food vendors, the smells made Yondu’s mouth water.  
The choices were a tad overwhelming, there seemed to be new all around and Yondu didn’t want to make a wrong choice in case Captain Stakar wouldn’t give him dinner back on the ship because he would have had a chance to eat dinner already.  
He spotted one selling strips of caramelized meat on a stick, he liked meat, so he chose that one.  
It was smokey and hot and reminded him of the few times he had been allowed to hunt for his own food and cook it over the open flames of the fire pit when his masters had been in an exceptionally good mood.  
He had made a good choice going with this vendor he thought, eating as quickly as possible so as not to make the other man wait too long for him to finish so they could move on.   
With Yondu satisfied they continued down a few stalls for Stakar to get what he wanted to eat.  
While Stakar was busy ordering Yondu looked around again, that smell from when he first got off the ship was back.

It was coming from the stall across from them, a large green woman with long neon yellow hair had just taken something rectangular and flat out of one of the clay ovens at the back before quickly disappearing out of site to stoke the fire behind it.  
The weren’t many people in the area and he could see the whole stall, there was also a petite delicate looking pale blue woman with equally pale shaded pink hair, violet colored eyes and four arms working with one of the cooled rectangles.  
She had one dumped out on the table next to a small display of all kinds of things, Yondu vaguely was aware of them being treats.  
The Upper Kree children often had them, they would bring them over to their cages and ask if they wanted some.  
When he was a child Yondu had fell for their cruel game only two or three times before he caught on and gave up, his cage mates either had too much hope or were new to the game because they always held their little hands out through the bars eagerly, only to have the treat yanked back with a fit of giggles and “too bad, you have to be a person to get sweets and treats” before the tiny tormentors ran away.  
He watched as the petite woman spread something thick and white then something red on the rectangle, she used the towel it was on to help roll it up so the filling wasn’t visible anymore and the rectangle became a circle.  
As she looked up to reach for a large knife she met Yondu’s wide eyes intently fixated on her work and gave him a smile, she kept eye contact as she sliced the roll then picked up the end piece and held it out with one hand while making a ‘come over’ motion with another hand and continuing to slice the rest of the roll with the other two.  
It smelled so good and he really wanted to go over, he tugged on Stakar’s elbow and pointed when the man turned to look at him.  
He hoped the older man would indulge him just one more time today and starred non repentant at him.  
Stakar followed the direction Yondu pointed and when his eyes met those of the woman holding the treat out she stopped her work, used one hand to point at her neck, another to point at Yondu and the other she put to her chest.  
He smiled back then looked at Yondu who was still focused and waiting for his answer, he nodded and told him to go over.  
The vendor was a good 20 feet away and in these last two weeks Yondu hadn’t strayed more than 5 from Stakar’s side for anything other than to sleep and use the toilet so Stakar was pleasantly surprised when Yondu cautiously started his way over to her alone and without any further prompting.

Once there Yondu took the offered sweet a little too quickly after a moment of hesitation, worried it might be taken back or thrown to the ground at the last second, but the woman just continued to smile.  
The part that was a rectangle he recognized as some kind of cake now that he could see it better, they never got cake but the children not in cages had, it was spongy and sweet and tasted like the fruits they sometimes got in the harvest season when there was enough food to grace the “lesser life forms” with a gift.  
The filling was made of jam and a think sweet paste, Yondu revelled in the taste - it was like his tongue had been in its own collar and now it was clipped too, his eyes rolled back in his head as a small half whimper/half moan escaped past his lips.  
This was even better than meat.  
He was brought out of his foodgasm by the cooing laugh of both the vendors.  
The green one kissed the blue one on the cheek and started to fill a paper bag with the ends from all that days sweet rolls, and various other delicacies that were still good but not aesthetically pleasing enough to be sold.  
She handed it over to Yondu once his treat was gone and he finished licking his fingers clean, this time Yondu didn’t hesitate and took it right away.  
Stakar had come up behind Yondu in the meantime and mouthed “how much” but the two women just smiled and gave a combined set of six small waves before turning back to their work. 

It was starting to become evening as Stakar led the way back to the docking stations and the market vendors began to turn on their lights.  
As Yondu looked back he was enraptured by the sea of lights slowing unfurling along the market from the incline that would take them up to where they were docked, he stopped to watch as more and more lights came on revealing other markets and shops and houses beyond them who were all being illuminated with their own lights coming on.  
Stakar, ready to be back in open space, called Yondu to come along, promising him he’d get to see lots more things as they continued their journey through the stars.  
The lights seemed to be coming on in a row going backward, stretching toward the horizon where the last of the suns were setting and Yondu wanted to see them reach it, it felt wrong to deny the pretty show an audience until it reached its freedom of that horizon.  
One day Yondu would chase down his own horizons just like it.  
Yondu steeled his face and gaze, without even looking back he replied. 

“No, wanna see if tha lights make it to tha end”.

**Author's Note:**

> Title's a nod to the childrens rhyme 'This Little Piggy"  
> Work Hubby and I were discussing if Stakar ever regretted actually freeing Yondu or trying to get him out of his shell.  
> We decided once he got him out he probably had quite a few moments where he was like, damn it can I push him back in the shell just a little... he probably has Kraglin on speed dial so they can compare, comiserate and vent even after the exile.
> 
> It's 3:30am at the time of posting this so if anything is horribly wrong let me know as my brain went to bed hours ago.


End file.
